While Kerry Pushes Peace Talks, Israeli Leader Airs Criticism

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The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has said that Palestinians’ recognition of the Jewish state is an issue that underpins all others.Published OnJan. 1, 2014CreditImage by Pool photo by Dan Balilty

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel delivered a harsh assessment of his Palestinian counterpart and implicitly the prospect of a Middle East peace agreement as Secretary of State John Kerry arrived here on Thursday to intensify his push for a “framework” accord that would define the principles of a comprehensive treaty.

“There’s growing doubt in Israel that the Palestinians are committed to peace,” Mr. Netanyahu said. “In the six months since the start of peace negotiations, the Palestinian Authority continues its unabated incitement against the State of Israel.”

Mr. Netanyahu has made similar comments in recent days, but it was striking that he made them with Mr. Kerry at his side and at a time when the secretary of state was stepping up his diplomatic efforts. The prime minister’s combative comments came as each side appeared to be maneuvering and potentially laying the foundation to avoid blame should the talks fail.

Providing new evidence for his charge, Mr. Netanyahu referred to a recent wave of attacks against Israelis and said that “at least in one case those who served and are serving in the Palestinian security forces took part in them.” Later Thursday, the Shin Bet internal security agency said that it had arrested a number of suspects behind the foiled Dec. 22 bombing of an Israeli bus in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv, and that one of the bomb makers was a Palestinian police cadet in Bethlehem. That could not be independently verified.

Mr. Kerry, who is planning days of shuttle diplomacy with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, reached back to his military service in the Vietnam War to make the case that once-bitter adversaries can reconcile.

“This is not mission impossible,” Mr. Kerry said. “The time is soon arriving where leaders are going to have to make difficult decisions. We are close to that time, if not at it.”

Mr. Kerry did not respond directly to Mr. Netanyahu’s condemnation of the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, but asserted that Mr. Abbas had stood up to factions that did not want him to negotiate.

Mr. Kerry’s trip came as the two sides were more than halfway toward the nine-month target date that was set for completing a peace treaty.

His near-term goal is to secure an accord that would codify the basic outlines of an agreement and potentially allow more time for negotiation of a treaty.

Mr. Kerry’s efforts mark a new, more activist phase in which he is not merely trying to facilitate compromises but carrying new ideas to try to bridge gaps between the two sides.

“An agreed framework would be a significant breakthrough,” Mr. Kerry said. “It would create the fixed, defined parameters by which the parties would then know where they are going and what the end result can be. It would address all of the core issues that we have been addressing since Day 1, including borders, security, refugees, Jerusalem, mutual recognition, and the end of conflict and of all claims.”

Tensions over the framework within Mr. Netanyahu’s governing coalition are apparent. Hours before Mr. Kerry’s arrival, Gideon Saar, a cabinet minister from Mr. Netanyahu’s conservative Likud Party, led a news media tour of the Jordan Valley, a contested area of the West Bank, insisting that it should become an integral part of Israel.

In his remarks, Mr. Netanyahu also expressed outrage over the way Mr. Abbas had greeted Palestinians who had recently been released from prison by Israel after the formal resumption of peace talks. Most of the Palestinians were convicted of killing Israelis.

“How can President Abbas say that he stands against terrorism when he embraces the perpetrators of terrorism and glorifies them as heroes?” Mr. Netanyahu asked.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A4 of the New York edition with the headline: While Kerry Pushes Talks, Israeli Leader Airs Criticism. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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